Tuesday, May 12, 2015 (MTE Daily Issue 40)

7/21/2019 Tuesday, May 12, 2015 (MTE Daily Issue 40)

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PAGE

3PHOTO: AUNG KHANT

$1.2b Myeik resort proposedSalon Island near Kawthoung would become the Phuket of Myanmar under a plan put forward by a Singaporean

firm to develop a casino and luxury resort but tourism officials say they have been left in the dark. BUSINESS 8

Volunteers sing in front of Dagon Centre on May 10 to raise funds for earthquake

victims in Nepal. The group has raised more than US$5000 in public donations since

beginning the nightly performances on April 30, and conducted shows in front of

Junction Square, Parkson, Hledan Centre and several other locations.

WWW.MMTIMES.COM DAILY EDITION ISSUE 40 | TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2015

500Ks.

HEARTBEAT OF THE NATION

NEWS 3

Trafficking victims wash

up in Malaysia, Indonesia

Muslims from Rakhine State and

Bangladesh have been dumpedby traffickers in Malaysia and

Indonesia in recent days, in

apparent response to a crackdown

on trafficking in Thailand.

NEWS 4

Ko Par Gyi trial resumes as

soldiers secretly acquitted

Human rights commission revealstwo soldiers linked to the death of a

journalist in Mon State in October

were cleared by a military court the

following month.

BUSINESS 10

Ministry halts planned

commodities exchange

Myanmar firm MICEx had planned

to launch an online exchange in the

coming months, but the Ministry ofCommerce says it has not yet granted

approval to the venture.

BUSINESS 8

Serge Pun says FMI will be

first and only listed firm

FMI chair Serge Pun says his firm will

be the only one in a position to list onthe Yangon Stock Exchange when it

launches this year a claim already

dismissed by government officials.


2/27

2News THE MYANMAR TIMES MAY 12, 2015

Thousands return to Kokang,but others flee recent clashes

SEVERAL thousand civilians have re-

turned to their villages in and near

the Kokang region in recent weeks buta renewed offensive by government

forces close to Myanmars border with

China has prompted another exodus of

refugees, the World Food Programme

(WFP) said yesterday.Separately the Shan Human Rights

Foundation, an NGO, reported that

many refugees were too afraid to return

to Myanmar from China because of on-going fighting and reports that several

returning villagers had been killed.

Fighting in the northeast corner of

Shan State between the Tatmadaw and

ethnic Chinese rebels has entered itsfourth month with aid agencies and in-

dependent observers still struggling to

gain a clear picture of the scale of the

crisis.

The UN food agencys Myanmar of-fice reported yesterday that the UN De-

partment for Safety and Security was

expected to carry out its first assessment

mission to the main town of Laukkaithis month. That survey could then pave

the way for UN aid to enter the region.

A three-month period of emergency

rule and martial law imposed by Presi-

dent U Thein Sein on February 17 is

due to lapse in the coming days. Fight-ing erupted in Kokang between the

military and the Myanmar National

Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA),

an ethnic Chinese militia, on Febru-

ary 9. The WFP estimated that 60,000displaced people were still in camps on

the Chinese side of the border. Most are

ethnic Chinese.

It also quoted a Myanmar gov-ernment estimate that 60,000 peo-

ple might require support after

the conflict has subsided. The UN

agency said a significant number of

internally displaced people, or IDPs,

had returned in April to their villagesin the Kokang region, the nearby Wa-

controlled enclave and other parts of

northern Shan State. Among those

going back were 2000 IDPs who went

back to Laukkai from a camp knownas Border Point 125, although others

decided to cross into China. More

than 1400 people also left a camp in

Namhkhan township.However, it said heavy fighting in

Mone Koe, close to the border, had dis-

placed a further 150 households. Mone

Koe was the scene of fighting in early

1968 when the China-backed Burma

Communist Party including PengJiasheng, the current octogenarian

leader of the MNDAA chose the Ko-

kang region to launch a major offensive

against the Myanmar government. Thecollapse and splintering of the BCP in

1989 led to the creation of the MNDAA

and other allied groups close to China,

including the United Wa State Army,

the biggest of Myanmars armed ethnicgroups.

Reports from the region on the Chi-

nese side of the rugged frontier indicate

that the latest fighting is concentratedon the Nan Tian Men range of hills, just

a few miles north of Laukkai.

The Shan Human Rights Founda-

tion said Tatmadaw artillery fire land-

ing on the Chinese side had causedmore than 700 refugees sheltering at

the Chin Cai Go border crossing to

evacuate deeper into China.

Ongoing shelling in the Nan TianMen area since early May is continu-

ing to instill fear in the refugees. Most

are too afraid to even cross back and

make brief visits to their homes, due to

cases of killing and disappearance ofvillagers returning across the border.

Refugees said that most villages in their

area are now completely deserted, the

NGO said.WFP said it had delivered 33 tonnes

of food in April to more than 2700 IDPs

in Hseni, Kutkai and Namhkam in

northern Shan State, and the Wa area

of Nam Tit.

GUY

DINMORE

[email protected]

A woman who fled from the Kokang region of northeastern Shan State cries at a

temporary refugee camp n Lashio on February 18. Photo: AFP

Govt agreesto secondsix-waymeeting

A SECOND round of the six-par-

ty talks will be held when all par-ticipants are available, Minister

for Information U Ye Htut said

yesterday.

The first meeting between theso-called Big Six President U

Thein Sein, Commander-in-Chief

Senior General Min Aung Hla-

ing, Pyidaungsu Hluttaw Speaker

Thura U Shwe Mann, AmyothaHluttaw Speaker U Khin Aung

Myint, National League for De-

mocracy leader Daw Aung San

Suu Kyi and Rakhine NationalParty leader U Aye Maung was

held on April 10. Talks focused

on the election, constitutional

change and the peace process.

Parliament has urged a sec-ond round of discussions, but

the government has so far re-

fused to meet again.

But U Ye Htut said a meet-ing would be held to set a datefor a second round of talks once

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing

returns from a foreign trip to Pa-

kistan and Serbia.All stakeholders need to nego-

tiate the date for the second round

of the talk. When the commander-

in-chief comes back, we will all

meet together and negotiate. Thesecond round of the talks will be

held on the date they agree, U Ye

Htut said. Htoo Thant, transla-

tion by Thiri Min Htun


3/27

News3www.mmtimes.com NEWS EDITOR:Thomas Kean | [email protected]

Student defence lawyers urge govt ministers to testify

LAWYERS defending students ar-

ested for protesting against the

National Education Law plan to callwo prominent ministers in the Pres-

dents Office to testify in court.

U Robert San Aung, who is repre-

enting some of the detainees, told

The Myanmar Times the ministershould be listed as witnesses because

hey had given a commitment dur-

ng negotiations with students that

police action would not be takengainst their attempts to march from

Mandalay to Yangon.

Police forcibly broke up the

protest march at Letpadan in Bago

Region on March 10 and carried out

mass arrests.Charges have been brought

against 81 people, some of whom

face 50 indictments five for each

of the 10 townships they passed

through between Mandalay and Let-padan in Bago region.

During talks with student repre-

sentatives in February, minister U

Aung Min agreed that action wouldnot be taken against the protesters

campaigning against the education

law. Other ministers in the Presi-

dents Office were also involved in

the four-way talks that includedmembers of parliament and educa-

tion experts.

I met with U Aung Min on May

8. He told me he will help us with

this case after the [preliminary]

court hearing. I want to add him and

other ministers to the witness list. I

will negotiate with them but it canbe difficult, U Robert San Aung said.

The defendants lawyers will sub-

mit their list of witnesses after the

Tharyarwady court meets to decide

whether to uphold the indictments.The 43 prosecution witnesses

will be questioned. After that, the

court will decide whether the indict-

ment is needed or not, the lawyer

said.Defence lawyers also plan to call

members of the National Network

for Education Reform, which took

part in the four-way talks, as well as

members of the 88 Generation stu-dent group, the media and monks.

The director of the Presidents Of-

fice did not respond to calls for com-

ment yesterday.

Lawyer U Htay, who will also rep-resent some detainees, said yester-

day that Police Major Phone Myint,

who brought charges against the stu-

dents and their supporters, would bequestioned in a court hearing today.

Thirty of the prosecutions witnesses

are police officers.

The lawyer said todays court

hearing would involve the 70 peo-ple in detention, while 11 released

on bail would be called to court for

questioning on May 14.

Weapons seized during raidsin rural Hpa-an townshipPolice have seized homemadeguns from the homes of resi-dents in rural Hpa-an township,Kayin State.

The May 6 raids followed anincident in Byatkha village inwhich a 28-year-old man alleg-edly shot a 40-year-old man witha 140 centimetre (4 foot 8 inch)homemade gun.

The older man had tried tocalm the gun-wielding resident,who police said was drunk andstanding in the middle of the roadcursing and shouting.

When officials from the vil-lage administration office triedto subdue the man, he pulled a28cm dagger on them and re-sisted arrest. He was eventuallydisarmed and been charged withfour offences.

Police from nearby Eaindu vil-lage then searched his home andfound a 110cm gun andammunition.

After the detained man saidother residents in the area alsopossessed homemade guns, thepolice searched five other homes,seizing 11 weapons, spare bar-rels and ammunition.

Three men, ranging in agefrom 26 to 48, have been arrestedand charged with weapons of-fences, while another two are onthe run. Toe Wai Aung, transla-tion by Khant Lin Oo

IN BRIEF

President proposes minorchanges to population billPresident U Thein Sein hasrecommended amendments tothe recently approved PopulationControl Healthcare Bill but thechanges will not affect the mostcontroversial sections of the draftlaw.

The bill was passed by parlia-ment on April 6. On April 9, thepresident responded that someterms in the bill do not fit the newstructure of the Ministry of Healthand should be amended.

He suggested changingreferences to the Departmentof Health to the Department ofPublic Heath, and those to thehead of the township health officeto head of the township publichealth office.

The Pyidaungsu Hluttaws BillCommittee reported the presi-dents letter to MPs yesterdayand suggested parliamentariansapprove the proposed changes.

MPs who want to discuss theproposed changes have untilMay 15 to register for the de-

bate. However, as the changesare only minor, U Nein KhimPong, a Chin representative,said he expected there wouldbe little discussion. Once ap-proved, the bill will become lawwithin seven days.

Htoo Thant,translation by Zar Zar Soe

YE [email protected]

Unclear future for thousandsof rescued trafficking victims

THE number of smuggled migrantstranded on Malaysian and Indo-

nesian shores continues to climb as

boats are abandoned or forced to

eroute amid Thailands latest crack-

down on the human trafficking trade,fficials and migration experts said

esterday.

While Thailand scrambles to

meet a 10-day deadline to oust peo-ple smuggling from its borders, boats

hat would normally disembark at

he recently exposed network of Thai

ungle camps have been forced to

new locales. Nearly 2000 impover-shed migrants from Rakhine State

nd Bangladesh have been rescued inecent days.

Yes, our crackdown is affecting

he boats, Thai police spokespersonLieutenant General Prawut Thaworn-

iri told Reuters. Why else would

they go to Indonesia? It is so far ...

Our job is to block the boats and not

let them land on our shores.More than 500 refugee seekers

were recovered from two tiny, over-

crowded wooden boats in Indonesias

Aceh region on May 10, while severalmore boats unloaded on Malaysias

Langkawi Island later that night.

According to the UN Refugee

Agency (UNHCR), more than 25,000

Rohingya and Bangladeshis boardedboats bound for Thailand and Ma-

laysia in the first three months of

this year, about twice as many as the

same period in 2014. At least 300 areestimated to have died in crossings

during the three-month span, largely

from dehydration, starvation and

beatings.

The UNHCR noted that the ma-jority of the smuggled migrants are

transiting through secluded camps

in the Thai jungle or plantations near

the border with Malaysia, where theyare held for ransom, starved and of-

ten brutally tortured until fees of

about US$2000 can be procured from

relatives.

At the camps, the migrants are

beaten with pipes and wires, hung

upside-down from trees, and had fin-

gernails pulled off with pliers, saidthe UNHCR, which also noted that

many of the women were raped whileheld in the camps.

During its ongoing investigation,

Thailand has exhumed more than 30

human remains from shallow gravesat four recently abandoned detention

camps.

Over 250 survivors have been

found wandering Thai jungles after

they were abandoned by traffickers,according to Thai police.

The women and children will be

sent to government-operated shelters

while the men will likely be forward-ed to immigration detention, accord-

ing to Human Rights Watch.

With Myanmar typically unwill-

ing to accept back Rohingya whom

the government calls Bengali andThailand unwilling to consider them

as refugees, it is unclear where thesmuggled migrants will go next.

Rohingya often end up in indefi-nite administrative detention in the

Thai immigration lock-up, or in a shel-

ter operated by the Thai government,

said Phil Robertson, deputy director of

HRWs Asia division. In either case,

they are left in a permanent limbo un-less they decide to escape and make

their own way, or agree to be handed

over to brokers in the guise of a so-

called soft deportation in which Thaiauthorities never actually send the

person over the border.

Rights groups say that refugee

seekers are likely to continue to washup on the shores of Indonesia and

Malaysia, as more smugglers boats

remain parked around the Malacca

Straits, unable to complete their nor-

mal circuit.Chris Lewa of the Arakan Project

estimated 7000 to 8000 smuggled mi-

grants are currently trapped on what

have turned into offshore camps.Dozens [have] already died at

sea, Ms Lewa said. The real problem

is that no countries in the region are

ready to extend protection to fleeing

Rohingya refugees. This is what cre-ates the smuggling/trafficking mar-

ket. Closing the door on one side will

only displace the problem and put

victims at even greater risks.

With Bangkok Post and AFP

LAIGNEEBARRON

[email protected]

legal Bangladeshi migrants wait at the police headquarters in Langkawi, Malaysia, on May 11. Photo: AFP

81Students charged following the policecrackdown at Letpadan in Bago Regionon March 10, of which 70 are being held

at Tharyarwady Prison


4/27


Chief Executive OfficerTony [email protected] Director U Thiha [email protected] Chief Operating Officer Tin Moe [email protected]

EDITORIALEditor MTE Thomas [email protected] MTM Sann [email protected]

Chief of Staff Zaw Win [email protected] Special Publications Myo [email protected] [email protected]

News Editor MTE Guy [email protected] Editor MTE Jeremy Mullins

[email protected] Editor MTE Fiona MacGregor,Kayleigh LongThe Pulse Editor MTE Charlotte [email protected] Editor MTE Matt [email protected] Publications Editor MTE Wade [email protected] Affairs Correspondent Roger [email protected] Peter Swarbrick, Laignee Barron

Chief Sub Editor MTM Aye Sapay PhyuNews & Property Editor MTMTin Moe [email protected] Editor MTM Moh Moh [email protected]

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Factory Foreman Tin Win

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Staff protest sackings from Bagan hotel

ANGRY staff at a Bagan hotel say they

will hold further protests unless fivesacked colleagues are reinstated and

given compensation.

The workers were fired from Bagan

Hotel River View on March 8 for leak-ing confidential information on ser-

vice money paid to staff members, ac-

cording to the secretary of the Bagan

labour union, who was among those

fired.Two labour tribunals have ordered

the hotel to reinstated them and give

compensation of six months salary,

but they have not yet been rehired,said U Myint Oo.

On May 8, about 100 staff from

Hotel@Tharabar Gate, Bagan Thande

Hotel and Bagan Hotel River View

demonstrated on May 8 with permis-

sion from local police.

Service money has been going

own year by year so all staff held a

meeting and discussed it. Then the ho-

tel sacked us for leaking statistics, U

Myint Oo said.

We must wait and see if the hotelfollows the decision of Mandalay and

Nay Pyi Taw tribunals . If they wont

follow the decisions, we will stage

more protests.

I have worked here for 20 years. Tome the hotel is like my family. I dont

want to do something to give it a bad

reputation but we feel we are doing

the right thing.Officials from Bagan Hotel River

View declined to comment when con-

tacted byThe Myanmar Times, saying

only that the sackings were an internal

issue.Bagan Hotel River View is located

in Old Bagan, near the archaeological

museum, and is a part of KMA Hotels,

a subsidiary of U Khin Maung AyesKMA Group.

Translation by Thiri Min Htun

SI THU [email protected]

Hotel staff stage a protest on May 8 calling on Bagan Hotel R iver View

management to rehire five of their colleagues. Photo: Bagan Thar

Military acquittal raises freshdoubts about civilian inquest

A COURT hearing into the death of a

journalist while in military custody inOctober 2014 heard testimony from his

widow yesterday, but was overshad-

owed by the revelation that the soldiers

who shot him had already been acquit-ted by a military tribunal last year.

Two soldiers accused of shootingKo Par Gyi, who was killed as he alleg-

edly tried to escape from army custody,

were acquitted by an army court mar-tial of a charge of death by negligence

in late November.

The verdict was announced in a

May 8 press release uploaded to thewebsite of the Myanmar National Hu-

man Rights Commission (MNHRC).

The verdict of the military court,

which apparently allowed the two

soldiers to walk free, appears to runcounter to the recommendation made

by the rights commission, which had

taken up the case on the direct instruc-

tions of President U Thein Sein.In its report last December, the

rights commission said the case against

the two soldiers should be judged in a

civil court, rather than a military court.

Though a civil action has indeed be-

gun, on April 10 in Kyaikmayaw Town-ship Court, Mon State, it opened in the

absence of Ko Par Gyis widow, Daw

Thandar, who has been campaigning

to keep public interest in the case alive.MNHRC vice chair U Sit Myaing

confirmed yesterday to The Myanmar

Times that the case had been dealt with

by a military court last year.The case was decided on November

27. Unaware it had occurred, the com-

mission issued its report just days later.

We received this information in

April in response to our request con-cerning the case, he said.

The statement said that the death

of Ko Par Gyi occurred during a period

of active service, which under the De-fence Services Act meant that it could

be judged by a military court.

Accordingly, the case was heard

by a Summary General Court Martial

as Case No (146/147) under the provi-sions of the Defence Services Act 1959,

the Code of Criminal Procedures and

the Rules and Procedures of the Court

Martial and an order of acquittal waspassed on two guard soldiers of 210

Light Infantry Regiment, namely Lance

Corporal Kyaw Kyaw Aung and Private

Naing Lin Tun under section 71 of the

Defence Services Act and section 304 ofthe Penal Code, said the statement.

Section 304 relates to death by neg-

ligence, and carries a potential 10-year

prison term.U Sit Myaing declined to comment

on why a case apparently decided by a

military court should now also be be-fore a civil court. Now that the case is

sub judice, it should be up to legal ex-perts to comment rather than us, he

said, adding, The commission did its

best to protect a citizens rights in this

case. However, the result may not al-ways be as we expected, he said.

A military official from the PublicRelations and Psychological Warfare

Department said the response to the

request from the commission concern-

ing the case was not handled by them.

Ko Par Gyi, a freelance journal-ist, was shot dead in a military cus-

tody while allegedly trying to escape

detention on the evening of October

4 last year. He had been arrested inKyaikmayaw township while covering

the fighting between the Tatmadaw

and the Democratic Karen Benevolent

Army (DKBA).

Daw Thandar, who gave evidence

at yesterdays hearing at KyaikmayawTownship Court, said she only learned

of the military court martial after read-

ing the rights commissions statement.The decision will further compli-

cate the proceedings, according to her

lawyer, U Robert San Aung. The rights

commission statement referred to sec-

tion 304 of the Code of Criminal Proce-dure, which states that a person cannot

be retried for the same offence.

Crouched over stacks of documents

yesterday, U Robert San Aung and DawThandar discussed how to move for-

ward with their campaign for justice.

They are just tricking us, said the

well-known human rights lawyer.

He said that the militarys lack oftransparency would ultimately harm

its reputation further.

If the military would allow for this

case to be investigated at the civiliancourt, the image of the military would

be improved, and we will also know the

truth.

Daw Thandar said she planned to

file a legal objection to the militarytrial.

I have the right to appeal if I dont

agree with the verdict, she said.

Asked why the case was opened at

the civilian court after a verdict had

already been reached at the court mar-tial, district prosecutor U Nyi Nyi Lwin

and township judge U Thet Aung said

they had not been aware of the military

trial.

We are examining this case becausethe police opened it as a homicide case

at the civilian court, the district pros-

ecutor said. We will only investigate

how Ko Par Gyi has died.We will only find out how he died,

but we wont find who did it, agreedjudge U Thet Aung.

Evidence submitted at the military

trial will not be used in the civilian in-quest into Ko Par Gyis killing, he said.

Our civilian court is isolated from

the military court. Only the police may

ask for evidence from the military, butthey will not share it with us.

The prosecution does plan to call

witnesses from the military, but said

that the soldiers would need permis-

sion from their superiors to appear.Three or four witnesses from the police

force have already testified. Altogether

about 40 witnesses, including police

and military officers as well as civilians,are scheduled to testify.

Yesterday, Daw Thandar had her

chance to give evidence. During the

hearing she described details of Ko Par

Gyis life, including how they met when

he was working as a security guard forNLD leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

Daw Thandar said she cherishes the

photos of her husband with the democ-racy icon. After she heard about Ko

Par Gyis death, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

sent me a letter, telling me to be brave,

she said.

She told the judge that she had notbeen given any information when she

inquired about her husbands disap-

pearance. She also explained how she

had found out that her husband had

died, and told of her struggle to get hisbody exhumed, examined and sent to

Yangon.

She was joined by fellow activists at

the hearing, who dismissed the notionthat justice had been done through a

secretive military trial that acquitted

Ko Par Gyis killers.

I want to ask this: Is there no law

to prevent this and to protect [Ko ParGyis] dignity? said Ma Nilar Thein, a

prominent activist from the 88 Gen-

eration Peace and Open Society, and a

long-time friend of Daw Thandar.As Daw Thandars testimony took

the entire afternoon, the four other

scheduled witnesses will appear at the

next hearing, on May 25.

YOLA VERBRUGGENNAW SAY PHAW WAALUN MIN [email protected]

We will only find

out how he died, but

we wont find who

did it.

U Thet AungTownship judge

U Robert San Aung and Daw Thandar walk outside Kyaikmayaw Township Court

yesterday. Photo: Naw Say Phaw Waa

KYAIKMAYAW, MON STATE

Judge and prosecutor unaware that two soldiers had already been cleared of responsibility for journalists killing


5/27


6/27


Factories cleared of blame forfish die-off at Taungthaman

FACTORIES around Mandalays sce-

nic Lake Taungthaman have appar-

ently been cleared of involvement in

the death of hundreds of thousands

of fish last month. Though some localresidents blamed the alleged dump-

ing of toxic chemicals for the die-off, a

site inspection has found no evidence

of this.Dr Swe Thwin, an adviser with

the Myanmar Fisheries Federation,

told The Myanmar Times yesterday

that about 40 samples had been taken

from the lake on May 6. The cause ofdeath was not toxicity in the water,

he said. Except for three places, thewater was good.

The two mass die-offs of fish, onApril 12 and April 30, occurred close

to a landing popular with tourists

visiting the site in Amarapura town-

ship famous for a 1.2-kilometre teak

bridge that dates to 1850 causing an

outcry among local residents.

Tests conducted by the Mandalayfisheries department focused on the

acidity and alkalinity of the water and

the presence or absence of chemicals.

The tests found three anoxic deadzones, one at the influx of Payan

stream and two on the western side

of the lake.

When the weather is hot, the wa-

ter in the lake divides into layers, anupper and a lower layer. The upper

layer contains the oxygen, but in the

lower layer, water plants absorb the

oxygen, causing the fish to die sud-denly, said Dr Swe Thwin.

Immediately after the fish deaths,

Mandalay City Development Commit-

tee suspended production in the fac-

tories in the lakeside industrial zone,and the Amarapura fisheries depart-

ment charged 12 factories under the

freshwater fish enterprise law, includ-

ing operations involving the manufac-ture of alcohol, sugar, paper, fertiliser

and leather.

Fisheries department director U

Myo Aung said the charges related

to the discharge of acid and otherchemicals that affected oxygen levels

in the water.

Last May, charges brought by the

fisheries department against three lo-cal factories were thrown out when the

companies concerned demonstratedthat they had clean water systems.

U Swe Thwin said local concerns

about waste water from industrial

zone remained widespread, despitethe latest findings.

There no exact findings of how

much pollution wastewater has

caused. The Payan stream passes

through the whole urban area of Man-

dalay before draining into Taungtha-man carrying urban waste, he said.

What with chemicals from the

industrial zone and waste from thecity flowing into the lake, we have to

monitor it very closely, he said.

Once a rural retreat, Taungthaman

is now on the outskirts of bustlingMandalay and its population of 1.2

million, as well as the industrial zone.

Tourists are attracted to the lake, the

site of the famous U Bein Bridge, and

fish farming is widespread.On May 8, prominent environ-

mental group Sein Yaung Soe said in

a statement that it believed the fish

die-off was the result of a number offactors, not only pollution from the

industrial zone.

It also pointed to the establish-

ment of fish farms on the lake, and

the dumping of wastewater from

households and businesses at Am-arapura, including cotton dye from

nearby weaving workshops.

It called on the government to banfish farms from the lake, to introduce

wastewater treatment in the area and

to collaborate with residents to im-

prove disposal of rubbish and dye.

MANDALAY police have announced a

crackdown on illegal drugs, including

stricter licensing of controlled chemi-cals that can be used to make drugs.

Police Colonel Thet Naing, deputy head

of the Mandalay regional police office,

said on May 9 that importers should be

sure they are following all the rules andregulations on using, storing and selling

controlled chemicals, including those

imported with official authorisation.

They should inform the Inspection

Team for Controlled Chemicals or thehead of the township police office when

their chemicals arrive in Mandalay Re-

gion, he said.

If they have imported 100 tonnes ofchemicals, they need to be able to show

100 tonnes. Controlled chemicals arenot directly defined as narcotic drugs,

but they can be used to manufacture

narcotic drugs. Controlled chemicalscannot be sold without official permis-

sion. Sometimes controlled chemicals

run out soon after they arrive here.

When the inspection team come tocheck them, there are no chemicals to

show. We are asking importers to in-

form us when their imported chemicals

arrive in Mandalay so that we can pre-

vent their illegal use, he said.Pol Col Thet Naing is also secretary

of the Committee for the Prevention

of the Danger of Narcotic Drugs and

Psychotropic Substances in MandalayRegion.

Business people are required to ap-

ply for separate licences for the trans-

portation, storage and sale of controlled

chemicals, he said.

The Inspection Team for ControlledChemicals has charged a cement fac-

tory in Kyaukse township for storing

controlled chemicals because its licencecovered only transportation, according

to an inspector.

The factory stored the chemicals

without a licence because the owner

was not aware of the rules. The factorystored 17 tanks of hydrochloric acid for

factory use, not for reselling. The factory

has now applied for a storage licence.

We have charged them under section16(b) of the Narcotic Drugs Law, which

carries a maximum punishment of sev-

en years imprisonment or a K700,000

fine, though it is rare to sentence offend-

ers to both punishments, said Pol MajDe De Yaw Han of the inspection team.

U Tun Naing Soe, head of the soft

drinks factory EAC Europe and Asia

Commercial, said yesterday that the

briefing on the rules for keeping suchchemicals was very helpful.

We know that the regulations re-

quire us to hold suitable licences for

each separate activity. Its best to applyfor all licences in order to avoid any

trouble under the regulations, he said.

Translation by Thiri Min Htun

SI THU [email protected]

KHIN SU

WAI

[email protected]

Tourists take a boat around Taungthaman Lake, near the popular U Bein Bridge, in Mandalays Amarapura township. Photo: Supplied

What with

chemicals from the

industrial zone and

waste from the city

flowing into the lake,

we have to monitor itvery closely.

U Swe ThwinMyanmar Fisheries Federation

Tribunal rules white-card voting rights unconstitutional

THE Constitutional Tribunal has ruledthat giving holders of temporary iden-

tity cards better known as white cards

the right to vote is unconstitutional.

The nine-member tribunal an-

nounced the decision on May 11 in re-sponse to a case filed by 24 lawmakers

following parliaments decision to give

white-card holders the right to vote in

a referendum law for amending the2008 constitution.

Members of the Rakhine National

Party and the National League for

Democracy were among those whosubmitted the case.

The Tribunal has decided today

that [giving white-card holders voting

rights] is unconstitutional. It has beendone, said RNP chair U Aye Maung.

Article 11(a) of the Referendum

Law enacted earlier this year pre-

scribed that the citizens and tempo-

rary identity card holders are eligibleto vote in the referendum and be in-

cluded on electoral rolls.

While white-card voting rights

had initially been rejected by parlia-ment, MPs agreed to a request from

President U Thein Sein to reinsert

them into the bill in February, prompt-

ing the lawmakers to submit their caseto the tribunal.

The prospect of allowing white-

card holders to vote also prompted

fierce protests in Rakhine State, wheremore than 80 percent of white cards

have been issued, and smaller demon-

strations in Yangon.

The president responded by cancel-

ling white cards and ordering holdersto hand them in to the authorities by

May 31.

Those who return the cards will be

eligible to apply for citizenship underthe 1982 citizenship law.

But the tribunal continued to hear

the case, and announced yesterday

that giving voting rights to temporaryidentity-card holders was unconstitu-

tional according to sections 38(a) and

391 of the constitution.

Section 38(a) states that everycitizen has the right to elect and be

elected in accord with the law, while

section 391 says that every citizen of

18 years on election day who is eligible

to vote and not disqualified by law hasthe right to vote.

The constitution clearly states

that every citizen [has the right to

vote but] not temporary card holders.

They are not yet citizens, a veteran

judge said after the decision yester-

day.

Temporary identity cards were is-sued by the former military govern-

ment starting from around 1990,

when it agreed ceasefires with many

armed ethnic groups.While some were issued to mem-

bers of the Wa, Kokang and other

ethnic minorities, about 83pc of the

797,000 white cards were issued to

members of the Muslim Rohingyacommunity in Rakhine State, accord-

ing to Ministry of Immigration and

Population figures.

SANDAR [email protected]

Policewarn onprecursorchemicals

Death of hundreds of thousands of fish at popular tourist spot in Amarapura township was likely due to the

hot weather, not the pumping of wastewater into the lake from a nearby industrial zone, according to officials

AMARAPURA, MANDALAY


7/27

News7www.mmtimes.com

Views

Can new voices quell hate speech?

AN unusual book launch

was held at the House of

Media & Entertainment

on Yangons Bo Aung KyawStreet on April 25. The ti-

le of the book isVibhajja Echo, and

ll of the contributors are monks.

The book has been released at

time when outbreaks of violencebased on religion and race have been

ccurring. Some monks and laypeo-

ple have propagated hate speech

gainst non-Buddhists, and as a re-ult peaceful Buddhism has been

misunderstood by the international

ommunity.

The two monks who spearheadedhe production of the book are Say-

daw U Javana, who resides in the

United States, and Sayadaw U Rar-

ika, who lives in Germany.

Buddhist monks in Myanmar dur-ng the 2007 Saffron Revolution were

ppressed for protesting peacefully

n the side of the people. When the

nternational community saw the

monks marching and praying dur-ng the protests, the positive image of

Buddhism grew across the world.

However, after U Thein Seins gov-

rnment took office, outbreaks of vio-ence based on religion have occurred

n Myanmar. Some Buddhist monks

have become involved in the conflict

n different ways. As a result, the im-

ge of Buddhism has been stained.Thats why these two monks

ought to publishVibhajja Echo. At

he launching ceremony, Bawa Alin

ayadaw said they wanted to rebuildhe reputation of Buddhism and en-

ure its true doctrine is followed once

gain in Myanmar.

The writers are outspoken in their

riticism of some Buddhist national-st movements, including the Com-

mittee for the Protection of National-

ty and Religion, better known by its

Myanmar-language acronym Ma BaTha.

Sayadaw Ashin Zawana writes,Ma Ba Thas Interfaith Marriage Law

cant help to protect race and religion,

but it can provide the inspiration forthe destruction of the country. Ethnic

minority distrust of the [Bamar] isthe basic cause of our civil war. This

law is likely to affirm the suspicions

of ethnic minorities. Successive gov-

ernments have always said, Dontmix religion and politics.

Another author, Min Thone Nya,

writes, Our Buddhas ideology is vib-

hajjavada to accept everything af-

ter reasoning what is wrong and whatis right. It is not an ism that forces

people to believe what is said by a

well-known or educated monk, with-

out first judging whether it is right orwrong. Is the monk from Ma Ba Tha

who is popular today as popular as

Devadatta, a cousin of the Buddha?

Does he have psychic powers like

Devadatta? Prince Ajatasatru

was led the wrong way and as a result

killed his father, King Bimbasara, be-

cause he lacked reasoning power. Hefollowed Devadatta because of his at-

taining psychic powers and populari-

ty. Thats why I never join Ma Ba Tha.Sayadaw U Yarvika writes, I dont

want to see the Buddhist community

formed with suicide bombers. No one

should force the government to give

special privileges to Buddhism.

These are just sample paragraphsextracted from the book. There are

many writings from renowned monks

about Buddhist doctrine that are wor-

thy of careful consideration.However, hatred of those of other

faiths is still strong in Myanmar.

Some monks are openly deliver-

ing speeches propagating this hatred,

while even teachers of some Buddhistsummer classes for children are do-

ing the same.

Rather than imparting teachings

of the Buddha, monks are showingchildren photos of Buddhists killed

by members of others faiths. Aside

from spreading hatred, the photos are

obviously not suitable for children.

But such messages of hatred arealso being spread by monks and

laypeople through the media, too, in-cluding weekly journals and books.

The reason religious extremism

has taken root in Myanmar is becauseof the support of some Buddhistmonks.

Vibhajja Echo is the first of its

kind, a compilation of articles on

tolerance written by more than 20

monks. One of the authors, SayadawU Kawvida, now plans to translate

the book into English and distribute

it around the world.

However, it is impossible for onebook alone to overwhelm the hate be-

ing spewed by others.

And we should not be motivated by

concerns about the international im-

age of Buddhism. The most importantthing is to use the Buddhas authentic

teachings to eradicate racial and re-

ligious extremism. Translation by

Thiri Min Htun and Zar Zar Soe

SITHU AUNG

[email protected]

The reason religious

extremism has taken

root in Myanmar

is because of the

support of some

Buddhist monks.

Buddhist monks attend a conference about religious violence at a monastery on the outskirts of Yangon on June 13, 2013.Photo: AFP


8/27

8 THE MYANMAR TIMES MAY 12, 2015

Business

Serge Pun speaks to reporters last

year. Photo: Zarni Phyo

Salon Island could be the future home of a US$1.2 billion resort. Photo: Staff

THE US$1.2 billion LuxDream Island

project is branded the next Phuket

and will feature a high-end marina,

luxury hotels, a theme park and a ca-

sino.The plan may seem incongruous

with the serenity of Myanmars My-

eik Archipelago. But the island dream

looks set to become reality, as Singa-

porean Zochwell Group prepares tosign a Build, Operate, Transfer (BOT)

contract with the Tanintharyi Region

Government next month.

The Myeik Archipelago is a group ofmore than 800 islands in the Andaman

Sea, off the southern tip of Myanmar.

The islands are home to the Moken,

or sea gypsies and are almost un-

touched by tourism.The area had five hotels and motels

with a total of 196 rooms by the end

of 2014, according to the Ministry of

Hotels and Tourism. But this is set tochange.

In 2012, Gareth Chin, Zochwells

chief commercial officer, was looking

for business opportunities in Myan-

mar, and was introduced to Kaw-thoung, the city at the southernmost

point of Myanmar.

Following preliminary studies on

Salon Island, or LuxDream as it ap-pears in investment literature, he met

with U Htay Aung, Union minister for

hotels and tourism, who wrote a letter

to connect Zochwell Group to the chief

minister of Tanintharyi Region, accord-ing to Mr Chin.

Salon is another name given to the

Moken people in Myanmar. The island

is 697 acres in size, located around 20minutes by boat from Kawthoung jetty.

Several farmers who were living on

the mainland used the island for plant-

ing crops including coconut, cashew

nuts, betel nuts, corn and rubber. So wehave spent the past two years negotiat-

ing compensation, said Mr Chin.

Almost all the farmers have nowbeen compensated, he said. Those who

have not accepted the terms will keep

their land and, for now, the develop-

ment will go ahead around it.

The land was previously classifiedas farmland, which Zochwell changed

to commercial land under Myanmar

law. This was not a problem as the

project had already been approved inprinciple by the regional government,

said Mr Chin.

We are going to sign the land lease

and the Build, Operate, Transfer terms

with the chief minister [of Tanintharyiregion] in the next month, as soon as

the Attorney Generals Office approvesthe agreement. After that, we will seek

Myanmar Investment Commission ap-

proval.

Zochwell will rent the island understandard BOT terms of 50 years, with

an option to extend the contract twice,

by 10 years each time, said Mr Chin.

However, U Hlwan Moe, assistantdirector of the Ministry of Hotels and

Tourism in Myeik, said he did not know

about the project.

We oversee all of the islands in the

Myeik Archipelago. They need to getapprove from our department, but we

havent had any information yet, he

said.

The entire project will cost an es-

timated $1.2 billion. Phase one willinclude development of the marina, a

golf course to be designed by former

US golfer Jack Nicklauss company,

Nicklaus Design, and a clubhouse.Zochwell has approached compa-

nies including ONE15 Marina Club

and Resort, a Singapore listed firm

which operates the Sentosa Islandmarina in Singapore, according to

Mr Chin. ONE15 Marina is explor-

ing the possibilities of developing

and managing a marina on the is-

land, he said.Zochwell is also in talks with Jumei-

rah Hotels & Resorts, according to

Mr Chin. The hotel operator is most

famous for its 7 star Burj Al Arab

Jumeirah hotel in Dubai.

Neither Nicklaus Design, ONE15

Marina Club and Resort nor Jumeirah

Hotels & Resorts responded to requestsfor comment. However, Singaporean

architect Ong & Ong confirmed that

it was working with Zochwell on the

design.We have signed an MOU and are

working on a masterplan for the whole

island, said Andy Goh, Ong & Ongs

chief consultant in Myanmar. We will

start with the design for the marinaand the hotel.

Furthermore, the island will feature

a casino. While these are not legal inMyanmar, it is possible to gain a licencefor an offshore establishment. The An-

daman Club Resort, on an island near

to Salon Island, has had a casino in op-

eration since 1996.

The LuxDream Island casino hasalready been approved in principle,

though still requires MIC approval,

said Mr Chin.

Assuming the project gains MIC ap-

proval, the initial phase will begin atthe end of 2015, he said.

We are in the process of choosing

contractors, operators and investors.

We will manage the island in the sameway that Sentosa Development Corpo-

ration (SDC) manages Sentosa Island

in Singapore. We will lease it from the

government, divide it up, and sub-lease

sections of it to independent investors.

The SDC describes Sentosa, whichmeans peace and tranquility in Malay,

as follows: Once a modest fishing vil-

lage and military base, it has since been

transformed into one of Asias leadingleisure and lifestyle destinations.

Several islands in Myeik, too, have

long been used by Myanmars military.

The island immediately west of Salon

Island is a naval base. Its well located,as it will help protect us from mon-

soons, jokes Mr Chin.

Prospective partners from Singa-

pore, Thailand and China have condi-tionally agreed to invest, and are now

waiting for MIC approval, said Mr

Chin.

We are getting ready to open this

project to Myanmar investors soon, hesaid.

Zochwell will develop the marina,

which Mr Chin hopes will become a

major destination on the global yacht-ing route.

Many people with yachts want to

do a round-the-world tour. In this re-

gion, they pass through Singapore,

then Malaysia and Phuket. But all fourmarinas on Phuket are fully booked

and the government wont issue any

more licences as capacity is to the

brim, he said.The next stop on the map is the

Nicobar Islands [in the Eastern Indian

Ocean]. Currently only larger boats can

make this trip directly from Phuket.But with a marina in Myanmar, small-er boats could stop at our island before

moving on.

He plans to include immigration fa-

cilities on Salon Island, so that it canbecome a gateway to Myanmar, said

Mr Chin.

In a later phase, we will build an

800-metre bridge to the mainland via

another island, where there is alreadya causeway to the mainland. We will

need to work with the Ministry of

Transport to ensure we dont block the

waterway, he said.

Phuket of Myanmar seeks MIC approval

CLARE [email protected]

FIRST Myanmar Investment (FMI)

Company will be the first, and forthe time being the only, company

to launch an initial public offering

(IPO) on the Yangon Stock Exchange

(YSX) when it opens later this year,according to company chair Serge

Pun.

Speculation over which firms will

attempt to list has intensified as the

exchange gets closer to launch though deputy finance minister Dr

Maung Maung Thein yesterday dis-

missed the claim that only FMI will

be ready, saying it is too early to tell .Mr Pun said that many compa-

nies had initially shown interest in

listing, but the number has declined

closer to the launch.

It started with many companies,but as we grow closer to the date I

am told that we are the only compa-

ny. That bothers me but its too late.

Were in, so we will be there, he saidduring a Banyan Tree Leadership Fo-

rum held by the Centre for Strategic

and International Studies (CSIS) in

Washington DC last week.In late 2014, FMI announced that

it had signed an engagement letter

with Japans Daiwa Securities and

the Myanmar Securities Exchange

Centre for advisory services aheadof its IPO.

Daiwas sister company Daiwa

Institute of Research and Myanma

Economic Bank, a state-ownedbank under the Ministry of Finance,

signed an agreement last Decem-

ber to establish the Yangon Stock

Exchange, which is Myanmars first

ever bourse. At the moment, sharesin public companies are traded on

an over-the-counter (OTC) basis.

Once the agreement had been

signed, the Ministry of Finance in-vited a number of businesses to list,

from among the 200 public firms

under the Directorate of Investment

and Company Administration.

Several other companies haveannounced their intention to de-

but on the exchange , including Asia

Green Development (AGD) Bank

and Myanmar Agri-Business Public

Company (MAPCO).

However, neither is likely to be

ready to IPO this year, according to

a source at the Myanmar SecuritiesExchange Centre, a joint venture be-

tween Daiwa Securities Group and

Myanma Economic Bank.

Neither AGD Bank nor MAPCO

were available for comment bydeadline yesterday.

Dr Maung Maung Thein, who is

also chair of the Securities and Ex-

change Commission of Myanmar,said it is too early to say how many

companies will list, as the listing cri-

teria is not yet complete.

We havent even decided who

will qualify yet, he said . The crite-ria for listing have not yet been ap-

proved by the authorities.

The criteria that must be met

for companies to attempt a listingis almost finished, according to Dr

Maung Maung Thein. After that,

a list of eligible companies will be

made public.

We cannot say a definite time. Ifthe criteria are too stringent, there

will be no companies at all. If they

are too lenient, that is not good for

the market, so we are thinking about

these two extremes and trying tostrike a balance, he said.

The stock market is on track to

open toward the end of this year, he

said. Seventy percent of the prepa-ration has been finished.

This is the second time that Dai-

wa and Myanma Economic Bank

have attempted to open a stock ex-change in Yangon.

In 1994, during the first attempt,

we were invited to list, as we were

the only public company in the coun-

try, said Mr Pun in Washington lastweek. I said, I have one condition,

I want the serial number 001. They

said, good, youve got it. I asked

who else was going to be listed. Theysaid, no one else, only you, he said.

I didnt want to be in the mid-

dle of a circus with everyone look-

ing in and absolutely no benefit [to

the company] so we didnt list. As aresult the stock exchange didnt hap-

pen for nearly 20 years.

The difference today is that there

is some understanding of what needs

to be done to develop a functioningcapital market, he said, although

there is still a long way to go.

It would be nave and a folly to

think it will be anywhere near whata stock exchange should look like. It

will not. But its a good start. With-

out this start it will never [become]

what it should be, he said.

FMI first and only company to list on YSX, says Pun

CLAREHAMMOND

[email protected]

MORE ON BUSINESS 9

We have signed

an MOU and are

working on a

masterplan for the

whole island.

Andy GohArchitect


9/27

9BUSINESS EDITOR:Jeremy Mullins | [email protected]

Exchange Rates (May 11 close)

Currency Buying SellingEuro

Malaysia Ringitt

Singapore Dollar

Thai Baht

US Dollar

K1190

K302

K820

K33

K1095

K1230

K315

K835

K35

K1100

US Fed chair Yellen is gettingfed up and that could changethe markets

Online commoditiesexchange hit by Ministrysuspension

BUSINESS 12BUSINESS 10

VIVIAN Chan, general manager at

ummit Parkview Hotel in Yangon,

unpins a badge from the front of heracket.

We all wear these as part of our

uniform, she says. The staff are very

proud to wear them. The badge ishaped like a Myanmar version of a

Russian doll, a pyint taing htaung.

On it is a smiling lady, her cheeks

daubed with thanaka, and the

words: Where R U? Im @ SummitParkview.

The badge is a symbol for the ho-

el, says Ms Chan. It has a round base

o symbolise that even when shakent will never topple and fall.

Summit Parkview is Yangonsongest running 100 percent-for-

ign-owned hotel. It opened in 1995,

nd has survived several naturaldisasters, including Cyclone Nargis

in 2008. Part of the roof flew off,

said Ms Chan. Luckily nobody was

hurt.

Now, celebrating its coming 20th

anniversary in June, the 251-room ho-

tel is due to be extended, with workon a new 195-room wing to begin in

the next few months.

Since the lifting of sanctions

in 2012, the Ministry of Hotels and

Tourism (MoHT) has been asking thehospitality industry to increase the

number of rooms, to cater to the in-

creasing demand. Even the local inns

and guesthouses were expected to dothe same, said Ms Chan.

Several long-standing Yangon ho-

tels seriously considered the request.

It came at a time when Yangon des-

perately needed to increase capacityahead of an expected influx of tourists.

But now, with thousands of new

rooms to be built over the next few

years by both local and foreign inves-tors, Ms Chan believes that most ho-

tels will find it a challenge to fill thenew rooms.

Right now even we are quite

unsure about whether there will bemore arrivals, she said.

Just over 3 million international

arrivals visited Myanmar throughout

2014, up from 1 million in 2012, ac-

cording to MoHT statistics. However,almost two-thirds of these arrived

through the countrys borders gate-

ways only a third came through

Yangon International Airport.The new wing will be built in an L

shape around the existing hotel, said

Ms Chan. The permit has been ap-

proved and the project will start once

all the formalities are completed in acouple of months.

As well as 195 additional rooms,

the new wing will feature a 600-per-

son ballroom, a second restaurant,a new bar, an executive floor, a new

swimming pool, a gym and a spa, ac-

cording to Ms Chan. It is expected to

open in mid-2017.

The hotel is 100pc owned by Sin-gaporean investors, and the architect

for the new wing is also Singapore-

an, said Ms Chan, adding that nego-

tiations with prospective contractorsare still under way.

The Summit Parkview is a 4-star-

hotel and the new wing will be built

in line with this, she said.

A wing for the oldestforeign-owned hotel

Summit Parkview aims to expand by adding a new wing. Photo: Zarni Phyo

CLARE

HAMMOND

[email protected]

THE Myanmar Real Estate Asso-

ciation has begun drafting a law to

govern the real estate market, aim-

ing to standardise rules governing

transactions and provide mecha-nisms for dispute resolution.

Current transactions are gov-

erned by a mix of rules and laws,

but a single law could clarif y the

business, accord ing to U Than Oo,managing director of Mandaing

Real Estate Services and vice presi-

dent of the Myanmar Real Estate

Associ ation.There are existing laws and city

laws, to some extent, he said. But

some cases need to be solved in a

detailed way, which is why we are

trying to create a real estate law.The law is now being drafted by

the association and real estate l egal

experts. After a final draft is p ut to-

gether, the Real Estate Associationwill submit it to parliament for fi-

nal approval.

It has not been easy creating

the law. We need a lot of legal ex-

perts for real estate. With sponsor-ship from the Myanmar Real Est ate

Associ ation, we are asking for l egal

experts to come in and help define

the law, said Myanmar Real Es-tate Association president U Khin

Maung Than.

The local land market is notori-

ously convoluted, rife with overlap-

ping claims and ownership chal-lenges, which the association also

aims to address in its law.

There are still land ownership

issues in Myanmar, said U KhinMaung Than.

If there is a real estate law, we

can set out how to register land; ifwe dont know how to do this, we

face costs and [negative] effects.

There also may be some rules

about how to buy and sell land

properly, he said.While a law may be necess ary,

not everyone is convinced the in-

dustry association is the right body

to draft it.

We really need a real estate law

to allow us to handle issues clearly,but it must be c reated for the sake

of people, not only for real estate

agents, said a real estate lawyer,who requested anonymity.

The real estate law is also notthe only piece of legislation aimed

at better regulating the property

market.

There is still no condominium

law in force, which has been widelytipped to assist developers by al-

lowing foreigners to own some

apartments outright.

Association aims tosimplify real estatetransactions with lawKO KO [email protected]

The project will be developed accord-ng to responsible tourism guidelines,

aid Mr Chin. The Myanmar govern-

ment wants to avoid the sort of pol-

ution and damage that has happenedn Phuket.

Last year, Flora & Fauna Interna-

ional (FFI) proposed establishing a

Marine Protected Area (MPA) in the

Myeik Archipelago, as the area has aunique biodiversity, which is under se-

ious threat.

The FFI carried out studies over two

ears in collaboration with the Minis-ry of Environmental Conservation and

Forestry (MOECAF), the Department

f Fisheries and the navy, according to

n October 2014 statement. The parties

re now discussing the best ways toprotect the area. The region is also on

UNESCOs tentative list of nominations

for World Heritage Sites.

We will have to prepare an EIA

[environmental impact assessment]

before our MIC application, and to dowhatever is proposed by the govern-

ment, said Mr Chin.

Furthermore, he suggested that a

research centre could be built on Salon

Island, for academics and scientists tostudy the Myeik Archipelago before it

disappears. Zochwell has been talking

to the National University of Singapore,

among other potential partners, to findout whether this is feasible, he said.

Zochwell is not the only company

with ambitious plans for the region.

Myeik Public Corporation plans to de-

velop island resorts in the archipelago on Kunthee Island, East Sula Island,

Langan Island and Tanintharyi Island,

according to a 2014 article in state-

owned newspaper The Global New

Light of Myanmar.

The projects are likely to include

hotels, a golf course and amusementparks, according to the article.

Zochwell Group began doing

business in Myanmar in 2012. In ad-

dition to Salon Island, the companyhas several ambitious projects in-

cluding a chain of boutique, three-

star hotels in Yangon, which will

go by the brand Equiloft, a mix of

exquisite and loft.The group is also building a small-

scale residential development in Daw-

bon township, Yangon, and has cement

batching plants in Yangon and Bago,with another to be built in the Thilawa

Special Economic Zone (SEZ).

Finally, the group is in talks with

several Norwegian companies about

a gated community project in Yangonfor Norwegian expats, which would in-

clude facilities including a clubhouse,

a gym, a spa, restaurants and a school.

CONTINUED FROM BUSINESS 8

There are existinglaws and city laws,

to some extent ...

but some cases need

to be solved in a

detailed way.

U Than OoMyanmar Real Estate Association


10/27

10Business THE MYANMAR TIMES MAY 12, 2015

A FORTHCOMING commodities

exchange has been suspended fol-

lowing a letter from the Ministry ofCommerce stating it is not allowed

to operate.

Myanmar firm MICEx had aimed

to bring a commodities exchange on-

line in the next few months, but isnow left waiting while it discusses the

situation with government authori-

ties. While company officials admit

they are not ready to launch, they saythey had been making progress pre-

paring the groundwork.

We will not launch our trading

operation until we have received

regulatory approval, said MICExbusiness consultant Ashok Kawalsot.

Before the letter from the Min-

istry of Commerce, MICEx had re-

ceived some government approvalfor its exchange. The firm showed

The Myanmar Times a copy of a

permit from the Ministry of Na-

tional Planning and Economic De-

velopment from April 2013 allow-ing it to run businesses including

to manage, run and operate such

international standard commodity

exchange centres in Myanmar, ei-ther solely or jointly with foreign

and local counterparts.

While MICEx was some way

from beginning operations on the

exchange, company officials claim

to have held discussions withother government bodies includ-

ing the Ministry of Finance, which

oversees the Securities and Ex-

change Commission of Myanmar,

on providing oversight for the on-line marketplace.

Last month, the firm received

a letter, dated March 31, from the

Ministry of Commerce Depart-ment of Trade Promotion, claim-

ing that following a launch event

at the Myanmar Convention Cen-

tre in Yangon, MICEx did not have

legal permission from authoritiesto launch a commodities exchange

in beans and gold. It had initially

planned to begin with trading

these two commodities.The letter was signed by direc-

tor general U Toe Aung Myint, andforbids the firm with operating the

commodities exchange business, as

well as spreading information andcollecting fees for it.

Company officials told The My-

anmar Times they were surprised

by receiving the letter and arelooking at ways to discuss the sus-

pension with the Ministry of Com-

merce. Members of the ministrys

Department of Trade Promotion

could not be reached for furthercomment yesterday.

MICEx is chaired by U Sein

Win Hlaing, who is also president

of the Myanmar Paddy Producers

Associat ion.The Myanmar Pulses, Beans and

Sesame Seeds Merchants Associa-

tion (MPBSA) has also objected to

the plans for an exchange.

Association secretary general UMin Ko Oo said there must be prop-

er rules and regulations in place to

support an exchange and ensure it

is fair to the public, farmers and thecountry.

A commodity exchange would

cover the whole country, like the

stock exchange, he said. While

founding the [Yangon Stock Ex-change], it is being done against a

strong backdrop of support, includ-

ing cooperation from Japan.

U Min Ko Oo said he supportsthe Commerce Ministry as it stops

MICExs work toward launching the

exchange.

MICEx is now focusing on

launching two other businesses, ac-cording to MICEx project manager

Kedar Sirohi.

First up will be an attempt todisseminate price information ofcommodities to farms through SMS

messages. Mr Sirohi said this service

will allow farmers to find the true

value of their crops and demand ac-

tual market prices from merchantsand middlemen.

Another business will be ware-

house receipt financing, which

allows crops to be used as collat-eral for short-term loans. Farmers

would deposit their crops at the

warehouse instead of selling them

immediately upon harvest. MICEx

previously inked a memorandum

of understanding with a Myanmar-based division of Indias Sohan Lal

Commodity Management (SLCM) to

provide the service.

The MoU was terminated bySLCM on April 7 after disclosure of

the letter from the Ministry of Com-

merce, though the two firms have

not ruled out working together in

the future once the ministrys con-cerns are met.

At SLCM we follow the worlds

best corporate and legal practices;

we decided to terminate the MOUreferring to the same, wrote corpo-

rate communications general man-

ager Vaishali Sharma in an email.

Since the MoU was terminated,

MICEx has been looking for otherpartners for warehouse receipt fi-

nancing, talking to India-based

warehouse companies, local banks

and the Myanmar Paddy ProducersAssociation. It is also preparing to

move forward on the SMS messag-

ing component of its business.

Educating stakeholders such as

farmers about the companys mis-sion has proved a challenge for the

company. The online exchange is on

hiatus until the Ministry of Com-

merces concerns are addressed,

and MICEx is focusing on spreadingknowledge of the firm. It recently

revealed a new logo with the tag-

line, Where trust begins.

We need confidence first, ex-change chair U Sein Win Hlaing

told The Myanmar Timesin a previ-

ous interview. Operation later.

Additional reporting

by Su Phyo Win

Ministry halts online exchange IN BRIEFHonour thy mother withMPT top-up bonusMPT is celebrating mothers this monthby giving all their subscribers a 30percent bonus when they top up fromMay 10 to May 16.

The bonus is valid from May 10to the end of the month, for all GSM,WCDMA and CDMA customers, ac-cording to a press release. The bonusis automatically put into accounts.

MPT should always give out a pro-motional bonus for Mothers Day, saidU Khin Maung Aye, a Yangon customer.

The three telcos, also includingOoredoo and Telenor, have been dis-counting prices as competition in themarket heats up.

Aung Kyaw Nyunt

Thailand hopeful on Japanjoining Dawei in JulyJapan in July will sign a tripartiteagreement to join development of theDawei special economic zone in Myan-mar, an official said yesterday.

Hiroto Izumi, special adviser toJapanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe,confirmed Japans willingness to finallycommit to the project during a meeting

with Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha at Government House yesterday,government spokesperson YongyuthMayalarp said.

The special adviser was quoted assaying Japan was ready to invest in theDawei SEZ Development Co throughthe Japan International CooperationAgency and Japan Bank for Interna-tional Cooperation.

Dawei is an ambitious project inMyanmars Tanantharyi Region thataims partly to provide an overland landbetween Bangkok and the AndamanSea. The Bangkok Post

[email protected] [email protected]

JEREMY

MULLINS

CATHERINE

TRAUTWEIN


11/27

InternationalBusiness11www.mmtimes.com

HARP lost more than one-quarter ofts market value yesterday following

eports that the struggling Japanese

lectronics giant is planning a drasticapital reduction to help wipe away

osses.The firm plunged as much as 31 per-

ent in Tokyo before recovering some

ground to close at 190 yen (US$1.63),

down 26.35pc from May 8.Weekend reports by the leading

Nikkeibusiness daily and other Japa-

nese media said Sharp plans to reduce

ts capital by 99pc to just 100 million

en.The Osaka-based company a ma-

or supplier to Apple and a leader in

creens for smartphones and tablets

plans to use surplus money squeezedut of the capital reduction to wipe

way years of losses, the reports said.

The rare move comes as Sharp

truggles to move past years of gaping

osses, partly due to bleeding in its tele-ision unit, which has been hammered

by competition from lower-cost rivals.

Sharp was also expected to get fi-

nancial assistance from its bank lend-rs, such as swapping debt for pre-

erred shares with no voting rights,

eports said.

Investors may be afraid that pre-

erred shares, if converted into com-mon shares, would dilute stakeholders

rights, said Toshihiko Matsuno, senior

strategist at SMBC Friend Securities.

While there are so many uncertain

factors, the stock has become a targetof [the] money game, he added, refer-

ring to speculative trading.

Responding to the media reports,

Sharp yesterday said a capital reduc-tion remains an option as part of its

wider restructuring.

As for our capital policy, we have

been making various considerations

including issuance of preferred sharesand a capital reduction but there has

been no decision made, the company

said in a statement.

Sharp is to announce a mid-termbusiness plan May 14 along with its

fiscal-year results.

For the reported capital cut, Sharp

would need to get approval at a gen-

eral shareholders meeting in June.Earlier this year, the Nikkei said

Sharp is considering closing four do-

mestic factories that produce electron-

ic components, as well as withdrawingfrom its solar cell business.

As the company writes off produc-

tion equipment in unprofitable busi-

nesses, its net loss for the year ending

in March was likely to exceed 100 bil-lion yen, up from the companys own

loss forecast of 30 billion yen, the busi-

ness daily said. AFP

A customer looks at products made by Japanese electronics manufacturer

Sharp at an electrics shop in Tokyo yesterday.Photo: AFP

TOKYO

TOKYO

SHANGHAI

Sharp drops withcapital reduction plan

TOSHIBA shares plunged yester-

day after the Japanese conglomerate

withdrew its earnings forecast and

said it will not pay a dividend, citing

accounting problems on a number ofinfrastructure projects.

The company faced massive sell-

ing throughout the day with the stock

tumbling to its low limit of 403.3 yen(US$3.40), down 16.55 percent.

Shortly after the Tokyo market

closed on May 8, Toshiba announced

it had cancelled its projection for a 120

billion yen ($1.0 billion) net profit onsales of 6.7 trillion yen in its latest fis-

cal year to March.The vast engineering conglomer-

ate, which makes everything from bat-teries to nuclear reactors, also warned

it may revise past earnings.

Toshiba said it would hire an

outside team of experts to look into

the matter after finishing an inter-nal investigation.

So far, the probe revealed that

Toshiba underestimated the cost of

certain infrastructure projects along

with other accounting irregularities,it said in a statement with few other

details.

The company added that it will not

report revised fiscal-year results untilat least next month.

This is unlikely to affect Toshibas

profitability but it damaged investors

trust, said Mitsushige Akino, an ex-

ecutive officer at Ichiyoshi InvestmentManagement in Tokyo.

The stock dropped mainly be-

cause of the uncertainty since the ac-

tual losses are not known. This sellingwill probably continue until Toshiba

clarifies the situation.

A Toshiba spokesperson said yes-

terday that several construction pro-

jects have understated costs.

The extent of the problems and

who was responsible for them was

not yet clear, she added.

The investigation include powersystems, social infrastructure and com-

munity solutions units, the spokesper-

son said, referring to its energy, rail

and air traffic control services, and an

urban infrastructure division.Toshibas embarrassing roll-back

comes after its nine-month net profit

surged 86pc from a year earlier to 71.9

billion yen, thanks to strong sales in

the energy and infrastructure busi-ness, such as nuclear power plants, as

well as electronic devices, including

memory chips.

Earlier this year, Toshiba said itwas getting out of the North Ameri-

can television business and selling its

brand in the market to a Taiwanese

manufacturer.

Japans TV makers, including Sonyand Panasonic, have suffered from

razor-thin margins and fierce overseas

competition. AFP

A customer checks out computers by Japanese electronics manufacturer

Toshiba at an electrics shop in Tokyo. Toshiba shareholders are seeing red after

the stock fell nearly 17 percent yesterday. Photo: AFP

Toshiba trading tumbles withreport of accounting probe

AUSTRALIA yesterday announcedplans to go after large multina-

tional firms shifting profits off-

shore to minimise taxes, with 30

companies in the governmentssights.

It also outlined proposals to

force companies selling digital

products, such as streamed con-

tent and e-books, to pay a goodsand services tax.

Treasurer Joe Hockey, who last

year said the practice of corpora-

tions shifting profits amounted totheft, said he would reveal the

new legislation when he hands

down the national budget today.

The government will be pro-

ceeding with new tax integritymeasures in the budget, he said,

adding that the multinational anti-

avoidance law would target the ac-

tivities of 30 identified companies.These companies are divert-

ing profits earned in Australia

away from Australia to no-tax or

low-tax jurisdictions, said Mr

Hockey.The initiative comes amid in-

creased efforts by governments

around the world to crack down

on global firms that use complexcorporate structures to lower their

tax bills.

Last month, Australian parlia-

mentarians grilled global technol-

ogy and mining giants includingApple, Google , BHP Billiton and

Rio Tinto at an upper house Sen-

ate hearing on their tax structures.

The inquiry heard Google Aus-

tralia in 2013, for example, madeA$358 million (US$275 mil lion) in

income, generated profits of just

over A$46 million and paid A$7.1

million in tax.The firms insisted they had

paid the taxes they owed under the

countrys laws.

Mr Hockey did not name any

of the companies being targeted,or say how much revenue the gov-

ernment hopes to get back, but

said the Australian Tax Office had

spent months embedded in someof the worlds biggest firms.

They had noted that billions of

dollars in profits have been trans-

ferred offshore to minimise tax in

Australia.

A usual scenario was to operate

in Australia with billing occurringout of Singapore.

The money is transferred to

Ireland and then advantage is

taken of a range of different EUtax procedures in relation to royal-

ties, said Mr Hockey.

This is all designed to avoid

paying tax in Australia on profits

earned in Australia.Under the planned rules, the

Tax Commissioner will have the

power to recover unpaid taxes and

issue a fine of an additional 100percent of the unpaid taxes plus

interest.

Australia made closing corpo-

rate tax loopholes and endorsing a

common reporting standard to in-crease transparency a key focus of

the G20 meetings last year when it

assumed the rotating presidency.

As well as targeting profit-shift-ing, Mr Hockey plans to impose a

Goods and Services Tax (GST) on

digital products.

It is plainly unfair that a sup-

plier of digital products into Aus-tralia is not charging the GST

whilst someone locally has to

charge the GST, he said.

When the GST legislation wasoriginally drafted, it did not an-

ticipate the massive growth in the

supply of digital goods like movie

downloads, games and e-books

from overseas. AFP

SYDNEY

Multinationals to betargeted in Oz tax push

CHINESE search engine giant Baidu

often described as the countrys

quivalent of Google said yesterdayt has launched anti-corruption inves-

igations into its own employees after

eports three department heads were

being probed.Baidu did not reveal any details of

ts inquiries, nor confirm how many

were being investigated or their

names.

Internal anti-corruption actionreates a just and transparent work-

ng environment, and a sound envi-

onment for workers development,

he company said in a statement.

We call on all employees to re-pect company ethics and national

aws, to create a healthy and just

working environment.

Yesterday, Chinese internet portal

Sina reported that Baidu was investi-

gating three departmental directors.

President Xi Jinping launched a

much-publicised drive against cor-ruption after he came to power two

years ago, vowing to target both high-

level tigers and low-ranking flies.

But rather than the Communist

partys feared internal watchdog,the Central Commission for Dis-

cipline and Investigation, Baidus

anti-corruption investigations were

conducted by its own ethics andmorality construction department,

reports said.

Baidu fired five executives last

November for bribery and illicit ap-

propriation and dismissed four of itsemployees for bribery in August 2012,

according to media reports. AFP

These companies

are diverting

profits earned in

Australia away

from Australia.

Joe HockeyAustralias Treasurer

Baidu probes ownexecs for corruption


12/27

12 InternationalBusiness THE MYANMAR TIMES MAY 12, 2015

JANET Yellen could be losing pa-

tience. And that could mean a lot for

global markets.

When the chair of the Federal Re-serve said on May 6 that stocks were

overvalued and bond yields too low, it

was a signal that investors should not

expect to indulge on the Feds cheap

dollars forever.But after a knee-jerk reaction

to the warning, two days later Wall

Street was back near record highs and

bond yields even lower than before Ms

Yellen spoke.The reason? The April jobs report

released on May 8 that suggested the

economy still has some way to go to

meet the Feds criteria for beginningto raise interest rates. And that means

more easy money for investors.

When Ms Yellen became Fed chair

15 months ago the path ahead seemed

clear: End the huge quantitative eas-ing stimulus program of her predeces-

sor, Ben Bernanke, in October 2014,

and then after around six months be-

gin raising interest rates.That was the path toward nor-

malisation, easing out of the crisis-

era monetary policy that had the Fed

pumping trillions of dollars into the

economy even with its benchmark in-terest rate stuck at zero for six years.

It was nearing the time to normal-

ise. As 2014 progressed, the United

States generated more than 3 million

new jobs and the unemployment rate

sank toward the Feds target.Inflation, which the Fed wants to

bring to 2.0 percent, did not pick up,

but there were reasons for that, like

the oil price crash.

Meanwhile, the easy money policywas fuelling stock and property spec-

ulators while its impact on overall

growth was starting to diminish.

The Fed repeatedly implied that a

rate rise could come around mid-year2015. In March, it sent a major signal

for the coming hike, by dropping from

its policy statement a pledge to re-

main patient for the economic datato improve.

But since then, patient is whatthe Fed has had to be. US economic

growth stalled in the first quarter, and

markets read that as meaning a longerwait for a rate rise, even though the

Fed stressed that the slowdown was

mainly for transitory reasons, like

the severe winter weather.Ms Yellen made clear this week

that she is concerned that markets

have too easily shrugged off a rate

hike and the turmoil it could bring to

markets.Stock valuations generally are

quite high, she said at a finance fo-

rum on May 6. There are potential

dangers there.Bond markets were risky too.

We need to be attentive to the

possibility that when Fed decides

its time to begin raising rates, these

term premiums could move up and

we could see a sharp jump in long-term rates, she said.

Stocks took the calculated message

at face value, sinking sharply, while

bond yields spiked higher for all oftwo days.

Then came the April jobs report

which suggested the winter slowdown

was not completely past. The job crea-

tion number was pretty strong, andunemployment fell to 5.4pc.

But here was no sign of rising

wages an indicator Ms Yellen herself

has focused on to show labour markettightening.

Moreover, the labour force par-ticipation rate, the measure of what

percent of work

Tuesday, May 12, 2015 (MTE Daily Issue 40)

Documents

Transcript of Tuesday, May 12, 2015 (MTE Daily Issue 40)